Hanni's Springs

Situated on the northwest coast of Hikakilalli, Hanni’s Springs grew up as a known place to take on water without being noticed. As the coast here is marshy lagoons and swamps, few natives live here, and so pirate captains would often put ashore and send crews to the many clear springs that bubbled up only a mile or inland. Over time some folks set up here permanently, offering trade and services to incoming pirate ships. Hanni’s Springs is a seedy agglomeration of saloons and brothels and the like, home to perhaps a 1,000 rough-living sorts.

A couple of the more famous (or infamous) places folks are likely to encounter include

• Gilbert’s Tavern – A second-rate bar overlooking the harbour. The booze is watered and Gilbert left years ago, leaving Angus Drinker to watch the joint. Angus is a sullen one-legged ex-pirate who mainly runs the joint so as to ensure a reliable stream of nobodies to listen to how the world is out to get him.
• The Mangrove – Tsoka Asafun’s saloon, with gambling, whores and cheap liquor. Flashy and trashy, with gold paint peeling off the banisters. Best place on Hikakilalli to buy or sell under-the-counter rubies.
• Beds For Rent – cheap rooms and a full-on flophouse, over-run now with refugees. The owner, Mrs. Margrove, insists on payment and has received some help from Kwende’s boys in making sure those who refuse to pay are encouraged to leave.
• Finger’s Fish – Finger is sallow old bastard who buys most of the local catch and salts it for transport. He sells some of it here for locals, in a slime-strewn open market.

Beneath the catwalks and boardwalks of the city lurks another sort of world entirely:

Dredgers’ Rest – the Dredgers are an insular community who maintain the pilings and the mangrove muck to keep the town from falling into the marsh. This location, only a rumour among most of the inhabitants of Hanni’s Springs, is a complex of rooms and twisting passages constructed underneath the main levels of the town. It is a labyrinth and can be deadly, as certain parts flood at high tide. In other places the Dredgers have trained assorted nasty creatures to hang around and pick off anyone who strays too close to the water (or takes the wrong turn into a dark passage).

There’s also some key players hereabouts.

• “Itzchen” is an Impsalan runaway who joined Maxon’s crew years ago. He’s a massively overweight bastard with a fondness for young girls.
• Derrin Snok is one of the leaders of the Dredger community, a pasty guy with goggles and long wiggly fingers.